#SchoolReligion: Parents should decide, says Christian group

Johannesburg - The Christian Action Network said on Thursday that parents had to be allowed to decide the religious ethos of schools through the School Governing Body (SGB).

This follows the ruling by the South Gauteng High Court on Wednesday that no public school could adhere and promote one religion.

"This judgement is concerning for parents who wish to send their child to a school with a single faith ethos," Taryn Lourens from the Christian Action Network said in a statement.

"Even though the judgement seems to undermine the authority of parents to decide the religious ethos of their school, it should benefit Christian parents who have children at, for example, a Muslim ethos school, or even at completely secular school with no religious observances in school assemblies."

Last month an application by Organisation for Religious Education and Democracy (OGOD) was brought to the High Court requesting them to ban religious practices at schools, which they felt ran counter to the conviction of 95 percent of South Africans who identify themselves with a religion.

The Christian Action Network said should the respondents in the matter choose to appeal the case, it would be appealed at the Supreme Court of Appeal and then to the Constitutional Court and thus school governing bodies would not be legally bound by the decision until such appeals were concluded.